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[sikora]

Okay, so it's cold and snowing here just south of the Great White North, 8 inches of snow on the ground and single digits temps.  Laika turns out to be a wimp in the cold; her feet get cold and hurt, and she's very reluctant to go into the snow to do her "business."  On the other hand, she's too housebroken to just go on the plowed sidewalk or street.  She is getting to the point where she'll pee on the street, but the other function is a problem for her.  She doesn't know where to go.

Any advice?  I am a very good and very experienced dog trainer, but I've never encountered this problem.  I am going to get her some muttluks.

[testingthewaters]

I assume a muttluk is one of those dog slippers? That was my suggestion, anyway. And just think, Laika will be a paragon of fasion.

[qrypt]

If you can get beyond the absurdity of it, the solution is to shovel down to a bare patch of lawn. 

[_touchedbyanoodle_]

If you can get beyond the absurdity of it, the solution is to shovel down to a bare patch of lawn. 

Bingo. We used to do this for our dog while I was growing up.

[geonerd]

You guys beat me to it. Dog booties and shovel a patch of lawn, yah, you bethca!

[danny_boy]

Buy a video of Call of the Wild and make the dog watch it.  What would White Fang do?

[john_proctor]

a. shovel the lawn.

or:

b. when you take the dog out, wait.  Expect the first couple of times to take a pretty good while (a well house broken dog can hold it for a good long time and will likely want to go back inside.  You're going to get a lot of the dog going back to the house and looking at you).  Insist on waiting; keep calling the dog back to the yard.  Likely, you'll eventually get some bored/curious sniffing around and a great deal of looking up at you like you're crazy. 

Eventually, the cold and the dog's bladder will force things.  When s/he goes, reassure that not only are you not angry, you're pleased (in other words, it's OK).  I think dog's can figure out exigent circumstances, but it takes a while (since you can't explain).  After a couple of days, particularly when you're offering no other options for elimination needs, s/he'll get it.

As frustrating as it can be, keep telling yourself how much the dog is really, really, really trying to do what s/he thinks you want.

[amlithist]

We have a long-haired dachshund, so we're shoveling paths every winter.  If it snows and he needs out in the middle of the night, he's on his own--it's pretty funny to watch him take a leap off the back step to the yard, only to end up with snow way up both sides!  (Of course, then we have to dry him off with a towel when he comes dragging all the snow back in the house!)

Once, he ended up buried in a drift--all we could see was the top of his red head!

[starfleet_grad]

I shovel the lawn for my dog, too, and it works like a charm. BTW, I have a dachshund.

[big_giant_head]

Do you have a garage?  I can't remember.  Our German Shepherd is a wimp, too.  He won't pee in the rain, let alone snow.  Being just as wimpy, we usually give in and let him go to the garage.  Now he's very old and can't climb stairs, though, so we must work on some kind of Plan B. 

I had to giggle this morning.  New Puppy, who is now about 5 months old, experienced her first sleet.  She went down onto the first level of the deck, suddenly realized that FROZEN DEATH was falling from the sky, went "whuff," got about 6 inches shorter in 1 second flat, and scampered right back up the steps. 

I know she's probably peed somewhere in the house now, but it was still cute.

[swtrixie]

I am owned by a couple of dachshunds too. Whilst living in Buffalo, we also shoveled a path for the "boys" to navigate through the deep drifts.

[mountain_ivy]

Being owned myself by two little short-legged mutts, the visual images in this thread make me laugh as the snow begins to melt here.

I would caution about walking doggies in a chemically treated street.  I've heard they may lick their feet and ingest the chemicals.

 Thanks.

[infopri]

a. shovel the lawn.

or:

b. when you take the dog out, wait.

The "or" may have to be an "and."  But my neighbor shovels a spot (complete with path to get to it) for her two dogs (one small and one large), and that does the trick for them.  Given Laika's hesitation on the street, though, you might have to wait (with JP's full description) even if you do shovel, at least for the first few days.

We have a long-haired dachshund, so we're shoveling paths every winter.  If it snows and he needs out in the middle of the night, he's on his own--it's pretty funny to watch him take a leap off the back step to the yard, only to end up with snow way up both sides!  (Of course, then we have to dry him off with a towel when he comes dragging all the snow back in the house!)

Once, he ended up buried in a drift--all we could see was the top of his red head!

When we first got White Dog (who stands maybe knee-high on me, but I'm short), he was about a year old and very energetic.  He loved racing around in big circles in the snow.  He was pure white then (he's developed some tan spots over the years), but he looked dirty next to the white snow--which is a good thing, or we'd have been completely unable to see him against the snow.  As it was, all we'd see was this mound of off-whiteness racing madly around in circles in snow that came up to his shoulders; only his head and tail and the very top of his back would stick up above the snow's surface.

Alas, he's old and arthritic now; we must look elsewhere for our entertainment.

[swtrixie]

Or you could try these:

http://www.petdiapers.com/

[sikora]

Or you could try these:

http://www.petdiapers.com/

If I lived alone ....

I like the rabbit in diapers.

I had a d'oh moment.  Shovel a space!  I should have thought of that.  So I did it, complete with a path, and took Laika out.  In three minutes, she figured out what the space was all about and she relieved herself.  So, while I was prepared to wait like JP said, my doggie may be smarter than me.

She like to play in the snow, but her feet really bother her.  When the temps are in the 20s, she does okay.